from our publisher & editor
To be nobody but yourself in a world
which is doing its best, night and day, to
make you everybody else means to fight
the hardest battle which any human
being can fight; and never stop fighting.
~ e.e. cummings
Can we just be real for a minute?
By the time you find this issue in your inbox or
your social media feed, you’ve probably seen
dozens of images on your phone or computer.
A perfectly packed bento lunch with carefully
sliced fruits, veggies, and just the right amount
of protein and healthy fat. Those pins of your
dream home with sweeping views of the ocean,
master chef ’s kitchen… and more pillows than
the Pottery Barn catalog. Your gorgeous friend
from high school smiling radiantly in her postpower workout selfie (wait – did she really
Photoshop her workout pic?)
I don’t know about you, but some days I find it
exhausting. It’s as if I could toil away incessantly,
and I’m never going to manage the healthiest
meal with the cleanest kitchen, with the most
organized laundry room and the smartest
children, all the while having the whitest teeth
and the thinnest thighs.
We can remind ourselves that social media
is essentially everyone’s highlight reel, but it
doesn’t make it any less overwhelming. So then
what? Are we supposed to airbrush our photos
and join in the perfection pageant?
I don’t think so.
I had the great pleasure of speaking to Mariel
Hemingway for this issue, and I was struck by
her transparency. Her life has been a journey
to overcome the stigma of mental illness that
plagued her legendary family, yet her openness
is a true mark of the beauty of imperfection.
Had she swept her “flaws” under the rug, she
would have missed the opportunity to validate
and inspire countless people impacted by mental
disorders.
Does it make you wonder how many of us are
missing out on life by trying to be someone we’re
not?
I hope this issue inspires you to find your
authentic self and share it with the world.
-Amity
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